Method of and apparatus for transporting pulverulent materials



Dec. 13, 1927. 1,652,960

w. o. SNELLING ET-AL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTINGPULVERULENT MATERIALS Filed Nov, 15, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 13 1927.1,652,960

w. o. SNELLING ET Al,

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING PULVERULENT MATERIALS FiledNov. 1. 25 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 13, 1927. 1,652,960

W. O. SNELLING ET AL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTINGPULVERULENT MATERIALS led Nov. 13, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Z8 j syre WamjM/Mw 35 .7 we 1 have illustrated diagrammatically the Patented c- 1927.l a

NITEDCS' srenons '10 TROJAN NEW YORK.

METHOD; or ANnAPrARArUs non'rmlvsronrmerUpvEnUnENr animate! WALTE o.SNELLING AND an AQRUP P, on riLENroWn,- rnivnsYLvANr ".Al j a rownnnooivirnnrror Nnw'YonK, Nam, A'conroRA'rron orplication filed November13,1925. Serial the. 68,841. Y i

This invention relates to the; art of handling and transportingpulverulent materials, and it is'particularly applicable to materialswhich areinflammable or explosive in character-when dry. Nitrostarch maybe taken asa'n example of such a material.

reason of their explosive character, a considerable. risk is involvedin] shipping such materials in the dry state byrailroad or otherwise;and furthermore thetransportation charges are excessive by reason of thedanger involved. In accordance with our in vention such, materials canbe'jconveniently shipped in a'wet condition, thus eliminating all dangerand enabling the shipper to have the advantage of a low freight rate. We

furthermore avoid the use of expensive ;spe

'cial containers and the likegwhich haveheretofore been considerednecessary. 7 v Y One of the principal objects of the inven tiontherefore is to .provide a inethod of han dling pulverulent materialwhereby for purposes of transportation it may be convenient ly suppliedto and removed from a container in wet or moist condition. 1Anotherobject of the invention isto prot vide' an improved apparatus forthe trans porting of material in accordance w th our improved method. 7V k 1 Further objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing. specification and claims. f

In the accompanying drawings, we have shown several types of apparatusembodying the mechanical features of our invention, and

- the claimsforming a part of this sp-ecifica v tion being relied uponfor thatfpurpose. .7 Of the drawings: i

:-"Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section-' al view of a tank oarembodying the mechanical-features of our invention;

.-Fig. "2 is a transverse vertical sectional .view showing an alternateform'of tank car embodying the mechanical I features of the invention; kY

ig; 3 is; View Sana was; Qb'utshow mg another alternate embodiment ofthechanical features of the invention 1'. I Fig. .4 1s a fragmentary sideview of the construction shownin Fig. 3, and; 1 V. i

" 5 to lo-a diagrammatic views illus proved methodfi.

Referring to the vided for thetank' whereby the tank may be V g Idrawings, 1', tank adaptedv to contain the material to be' I tratingfthemanner: of practicingour img readily transported, and we have indicateda framework 3 and wheels t liconstituting parts ofa 'railwaycan ,Theframework and wheels are indicated diagrammatically, .as they do not ofthemselves constitute any part of the invention. They are or may'beofany usual or preferred construction), Itwill-be understood that whilewe'haveshown a railway car, the nvention sfnot, necessarily, so

limited, but is applicable Lto (other; systems of transportation.

Y The tank is provided with from the exterior; there fiii For a reasonvwhich w1ll presently bemade'clear, wefloagitating mea ns l c ed thereinand adapted to be" operated cate the agitating means at a considerabledistance above the bottom of the tank. a I

' We do not necessarily limit ourselves to any particular typeofagitating'means,- and two distinct types. are shown in the drawings.In Fig. 1 we have shown agitating 7 blades 5, 5, which are mounted atthe lower ends of vertical shafts 6, 6. Theseshaftsare I carried bybearings 7 ,7, secured to the top of thetank, ands'uitable means isprovided for rotating all of the shafts blades, simultaneously.,Asshown' there is a;jho1'isuitable means such as a belt pulley9, {Beveli-a drive h 8 ptecl'to berotatd bi a I gearing 10, 10, serves toconnectjthe-drive" shaft 8'with theseveral verticalshaftso, 61"

The shaft ,8 is carried-b y bearing brackets 11, 11, preferablyformed-integrally with'the ibearings.,7, Z.- rWe'do notlimit ourselvesto. any, definite'n'umberof agitating units, but

when vertical unitsare usedas' shownin Fig.

as]. I

1, we prefer to provide several ofthem so- V Fora purpose that agitationmay be effected throughout the entire length of the tank.

' Lhich will be hereinatter' fully specified, we prefer *to providemeans whereby the tank may be vibrated. WVe do ng-m ans t oi ny ne ocato er th notlimit ourselves to. any one type ofvibratvibrating means.However, for purposes or" illustration we have shown means wherebytheiitrackAIQJ on which. the car rests may be bodily vibrated, thusindirectly causing the vibrationof the carstructure-and of the tank.Assl own, there are two pairs of hammere 13', 13; which are verticallymovable and which are adapted. :to zi'rnpiiige against the I bottomatthe track rails. Associated' 'witli the hammersoffztherespective-pairs,are'cains I v M, 14, mounted ,ontransverseshatts 15, 15,

which are rotatable by' any suitable means :(not shown); It' will beseen 'that'by.i'otat-v inglthe shafts 15,15, the cams-14E, let, willbe"lcaused'i to reciprocatethe hammers 13, 13.

. The. hammers will strike a ainst thetrack rails and verticallyyibratethem, and the vibrations of the rails will be transmitted to H thecarstructureland to thetank.

The" construction sliown in Figis or maybe substantially thesame as thatshown in Fig. 1 except th'atflagitating blades .16,

"1 6', are provided which are rotatable about horizontal axes instead ofvertical axes; As I tank, the shafts being' supported by, means ofbearing brackets 18, 1:8. The shai'ts 17,

I7-',' iefiteiid through'one end of the tank where they are providedwithsuitable drivingidevi'ces, as forinstance belt pull' eys ll),

19, sliownby dottedlines in'Fig. 25 v.

may "be desirable, as shown in l ig. 2, to-provide a'secondfsetotagitatin'g means located close to the bottom of thetank. For

"this, purpose, we have shown 'twopip'es 20, 20, extendinglongitudinally ofthe tank and provi'ded with a large number of lODgltu jdina-lly distributed apertures 21' through Theeonstruction'shown inFigs. 3

i whicheithencompre-ssed airlor a suitable liqjid, may be dischargedinto, the t'ank'to assist in causing agitation.

and a differs from that shown FigJZ in that Vtheupper'agitating meansconsists of pipes.

22, 22," instead of mechanical agitating de vices.) Thes'e pi-pe-s 22,22, are provided with longitudinallydistributed apertures 23,

- throughwhich air'o'r'liquid under pressuremay be" delivered to thetank-to efie'ct agitation; shown in Fig: i, 1 valvesv 24 and'couplings'25' may .be provided for the pipes -20,-*and valves 26 and"couplings 27 may be p'rovidedi. forj'the "pipes 22.

Theprjacticeof ouriinproved method and "the use of our improvedapparatus will. be more fully understoodby reference to the diagrammaticFigures 5 to Instead of introducing the pulverulent material into thetank in a dry condition, it 18 introduced in the .itorm of a paste orslurry.fIn some:

cases," the slurry may exist as airiiicident to the manufacture or priorhandlingof the: material, and in such a'case the slurry ;can be allowedtoflow directly into the tank 1; In other cases, however, when, thenaterial exists in a dry condition, a slurry must b'eiformedbymixingjjth-e materialwith water or other suitablefluid, as for instanceby means of aniiXer 28--:-indicated in Fig. 5.

Nhen'the tank has been filled, the slurry Y is" allowed to stand so astoPermit the niate'rial therein to settle to the lower part of tlie'tank,leaving a body of supernatant liq uid in the upper part of the ta'nk,Fig." 6'

shows, the pulverulent material separated from the liquid as described;.Thissettling operation can be allowed to take place naturally, but: inmany cases it will be desirable to accelerate it by vibrating thetaii'kyaiid thus vibrating the contents thereof." "It is a well knownphysical principle tliat tlie settling of pulverulent inaterialir'om aliquid can be accelerated and expedited by vibrating or jarring. Withthe apparatus as illustrated', this vibrating or arring is effected bymeans of the hammers 13' engaging the track in the manner alreadydescribedi It is to be understood that in effectingv the vibrating,useis made of a rapid succession.

of sharp'quick blows which effect rapid vibration, which isato-bedistinguished from the: desired result.

The material which settles to' be. lower part of the tankmay be-in theform ot'a very-thick paste, or it may be in'the form of a relativelysolid. cakel It will beobvious that" the character of the: settled material will depend upon the chemical and lOO agitation which would have'tlie reve'rseof pl ysical characteristicsthereof, Iii the case ofnitrostarch, particularly when niechai ical vibration is utilized, adensity is'obtained. 7

As" soon as the settling operation is com cake of high plete,- thesupernatant'liquid is removed from the tank-so; as to reduce the weightthereof, and thus reduce the labor, powerand' expense which wouldotherwise be ine volved'in transportation. For, removing this liquid, avalve may be provided in the tank, but we prefer to remove the liquidthrough oneof the openings 2. purpose,'we have shown a suction hose 29connected with .a centrifugal suction pumpSO,

In ma nycases, it is preferable to utilize the liquid discharged iromthe pump 30 for the purpose of forming aslurr-y with another batch ofmaterial to be delivered to another tank. Itwill be understood that Forthis the settling operation is never entirely complete and that some ofthe material; will shownin Fig. 8.

As soon as the tank has been filled with the. liquid,'agitation isstartedto break up the paste or' cake at the lower part of the tank o.material, it. will befobvious that all waste can-be avoided v ""A'ssoon" as the 's usual -way to' -"the point where the material is to beunloaded.-'- l I The first step, in preparation for unloading is tointroduce a body of liquid' into the tank, as for instance through ahose'32 so as to form a second fluid slurry. If mechanical agitators ofthetype shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are provided, power is supplied tooperate them, and they are operated until such time as all the materialis in suspension. If an agitating means of the type shown in Fig. 1 isprovided, fluid may be forced intothe tank through one pipe, andwithdrawn through the other, thus causing a vigorous circuation untilthe suspension of themateria-l is complete; or the pipes 22, 22may beconnected with a source of compressed air, which is allowed to flowthrough the pipesuntil the desired result is obtained. By reason of thefact that the material may form a very dense cake, it is usuallynecessary to i locate the main agitating means above the ,lower part ofthe tank soas tobe above the top of the cake of material. 1 If theagitating means were lower down so .as to become embedded in the cake,it would not be possible to start the operation thereof.

In many cases, it is desirable to use a supplemental agitating means inthe form. of pipes for delivering compressed air, these supplementalagitating means being located near the bottom of the tank for thepurpose of completing the mixing of the material with the liquid afterthe cake has been broken up by the main agitating devices. Thesesupplemental agitating devices also serve to prevent any resettling ofthe mate-' rial after the second slurry has been formed. When the secondslurry has been formed, it can be removed from the tank in any desiredway. The tank may be provided with,

a valved opening through which the slurry can flow by gravity, but weprefer to remove it through one of the openings 2. For this purpose, wehave shown a hose 33 whic'h is connected with What we'claim is: V

1. The hereindescribed method of handling and transporting pulverulentmaterial,

which consists in supplying the material inv the form of a slurryqinto atank,'permitting the material in the slurry to settle, vlbrating thetank to expedite the settlingof'the mapernatant liquid has been removed,the tank is tra'nsported in the the tank. i i U 2.xThehereindescribedgmethod of han-f 'dlingand;transportingpulverulent'material, I s which consists in supplyingthe. material in tank.

: bottom of the tank.

a centrifugal suction pump 1 ting fluld underpressure." j

for transporting pulverand causing the the former aslurry into a tank,permitting 9 the material in the slurry to settle, vibrating the tanktoexpedite the settling of the ma f terial, removing the supernatantliquid from the settled material, transportingjthe tank with, thematerial therein, supplying liquidf' to the tank, agitating the liquidand the ma teri'al to form a second slurry therein, and causing thesecond slurry toflo w out of the V 1 The hereindescribed method of handling .and transporting successive batches of pulverulent material,which consists in mix ing liquid with thematerial of each batch to r Iform a slurry, causlng the slurry to flow into a tank,"permitting thematerial in the slurry. l

to settle, removing the supernatant liquid liquid thus removed andmixing it with the liquid to the tank to form a second slurry out of thetank.

oof;v from. the settled material, returning the,

material of another batch, transporting .thev tank withtheinaterial'therein, supplying 4. An apparatus for transporting pulver{ulent materialfcomprising a tank having an opening at the top,supporting means in fixed relation to the tank whereby the tank may bereadily transported, agitating means comprising power-driven elementslocated in the tank at a point well above the bottom thereof, andagitating .means comprising perforated pipes for admitting" fluid; underfirst. mentioned and at a ulent material, comprising a tank having an.

pressure located below-the agitating means point close to the opening atthe. top, supportingmeans in fixed relation to the tank whereby the tankmay be readily transported, and two sets of agitating means located inthetank for agitating material therein, oneof the said sets beingmounted wellabove the-bottom of the tank and the other of the said setscomprising perforated pipes located below the '7 first set and close tothe bottom for admit- 6. An apparatus ulent material, comprisinga tankhaving an 1 opening at the'top, "supporting means in fixed relation tothe tank whereby the tank may be-readilytransported, means'forvi 1 meanslocated; in. the tank and "Sepa rated: port the tdnk,.1fiea,nsfor'vibratingtl le treck fromf the bottomt thereof for agitating mag andthereby vibratingthetank-tocause pu-l--- eterial'therein. o V we vverulent materialtherein to settleoutvof a An apparatustfor transportingpulverslurry, and means located inthe tank. and

V 5 ilent material, comprising a tank having an separated. fromythebottom thereof for agiopening at the top, s'upp0rti11g means inolud-.tating-material thereim Y V n in'g track Wheels in fixed relation tothe tank, WALTERO. SNELLING. Y

zigtreck with whichthegwheels, engage to sup v 1 GUY. A. RUPP. z

